International Art and Soul Challenge 39

It's my turn to host again at International Art and Soul, and I'd like you do do some Paper Pricking. That's a pretty wide option really. I'd love to see some hand-pricked designs with or without embroidery, but it also includes using dies that prick borders or designs and again, these can be stitched or left.

I've done a couple of examples - one stitched and one not. Of course, you can just put a small element of paper pricking on your project - it doesn't need to be the whole thing! In both cases, I copied the pattern onto copy paper and attached that to some card with removable tape before pricking through both layers.

For this one, I used a pattern from a book by Janet Wilson. The original pattern had pricked circles in some squares, but I decided to use some sparkly peel-off circles instead. To finish, I've got some matting, an embossed background and a stamped greeting.

My second example is paper embroidery rather than just paper pricking.

This pattern comes from a book by Joke de Vette. I used some machine embroidery thread (double-thickness). I like the sheen this thread has, and it's strong enough to cope with being dragged through paper which is much harder on the thread than cloth would be. I completed the card with some matting and layering and a blue sticky gem.

Why don't you have a go? There are loads of free pricking patterns available online, or you can just do a basic border for some other artwork. You don't even need any particular tools. The first time I did one of these patterns, I didn't have a pricking tool, so I just used a needle with the blunt end stuck in a wine cork.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with!